Building block and structure formed therefrom



Jug? E9 @938 c. F.; SAUER'EHSEN Z BUILDING BLOCK AND STRUCTURE FORMED THEREFROM n Fiied Feb. 2e, 1937 Patented July 1,9, 193s PATENT OFFICE BUILDING BLOCK AND STRUCTURE FOBMED THEREFROM christian F. saucreisen, Aspinwau, Pa.'

Application 8 Claims.

My present invention relates to building blocks or bricks and to oors, walls and other built-up structures made therefrom Bricks and built-up Astructures composed of bricks are usually laid with a plastic mortar or' in contact with corrosive materials such as acids or corrosive vapors the mortar is. attacked and rapidly deteriorates. In otherfcases it is necessary or desirable to have a surface, i. e., a vertical wall or tank surface, which has no exposed or visible joints and hence wherein corrosiveattack is prevented or greatly retarded. With the common form of building brick such is notv possible and a number of modified bricks have been proposed in the past to take care of such instances. These prior proposals, however, have for the most part been objectionable inl that the special brick shapes required are too difficult to form, requiring special divided molds, etc., and at the same time the expense` is unduly increased. Even in those cases where the brick itself is of a relatively "satisfactory type, diiiiculty is encountered in laying the brick, necessitating the use of spacers or precast joining strips. For example, in the construction of acid containers such as tanks for pickling iron and steel it has been found that the best results can be secured by laying brick in molten sulphur or in some other molten composition specially prepared for such service. The'use of ordinary rectangular bricks withmolten binder which must be placed between successive courses. Paper strips must then be pasted along every course to seal off the joints.

It is accordingly one of the objects of my present invention to produce a novel brick from which built-up structures can be conveniently made with poured joints. A

Another object of my invention resides in the production of brickfrom which tanks or walls can be made free from Visible joints and hence which present a 100 per cent ceramic surface.

A further object resides in a brick of such nature that an entire course is rst laid and then s liquid or melted binder poured into pre-formed is diflicult and troublesome, 'necessitating the precasting of sulphur or other strips to form spacers' February 26, 1937, Serial No. 127,855

(Cl. 'l2-37) recesses in the brick, thus obviating the necessity of laying each brick separately in a plastic mortar.

More specifically, my invention resides in the production of a parallelepipedal brick which is especially configured on three surfaces thereof so that when laid connecting recesses or passage' ways are formed which, when lled with liquid binding material poured therein, causes the brick to be secured in place and to each other in proper position; my invention also contemplates the speeding up of the laying of brick and the forming of built-up structures therefrom.

In the accompanying drawing wherein like numerals designate corresponding parts:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a brick em-V bdying my present invention and showing afragment of an adjoining brick;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the brick of view of the brick of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on Fig. '7 is a sectional view on line VII-VII of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a view showing a section of the cor and an elevation of the wall taken .on line VIII of Fig. 7; and

Fig. 9 is a view similar 'to Fig. 7 of a modified form of the invention.

Referring rst to the brick itself, as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, the numeral I0 indicates the upper surface thereof. It will be noted that this upper surface is planar. Likewise, the side Il of the` brick is planar, as will be apparent from Figs. 4 and 5 in particular. One end I2 is also planar.

The remaining three surfaces of the brick, namely, the other end I3, the other side I4v and the bottom I5 are specially configured as willbe apparent from Figs. 5, 2 and 3, respectively.' Referring first to Fig. 5 which 'illustrates the end of the brick, it will be apparent that this end is characterized by a semi-circular recess "or flute I6 substantially centrally disposed. This flute extends from the upper surface I0 of the brick to a point I1 short of the bottom of the brick and from such point to the bottom there Ais provided 'a somewhat semi-circular beveled portion I8 which together with .flute I6 forms an inverted funnel-shaped recess and it will be noted that the lower edge I 9 of this portion I8 is above theextreme lowermost point of the brick. From the ilute the end wall of the brick is provided with the two portions 20 which are nonvertlcal being inclined from top to bottom, that is, the upper edge of these portions is inwardly disposed relative to the bottom edge thereof and also these walls are inclined from the flute toward the corners of the brick. Thus these portions 20 have a double or compound slope or inclinationI both vertically and horizontally. These portions 20 do not, however, extend all the way to the edges of the brick, thus forming marginal portions 2l which consequently are of somewhat wedge shape having their thinnest portion at the bottom and their thickest portion at the top. 20 and 2| are joined by triangular bevel walls 22. It will be further noted that one edge of the flute (the left edge in Fig. extends the entire height of the brick whereas the other has a flaring lower end designated by thevnumeral 23.

The non-planar side I4 of the brick (Fig. 2) is generally of the same nature as the non-planar end I3 just described, the major difference being in the proportions. The non-planar side has a -ute 23 which is off-center (but which may be centered if desired) and which has a semi-circular beveled portion 24 which together with flute 23 forms an inverted funnel-like recess and it will be noted that the lower edge 25 of this portion 24 is also above the lowermostpoint of the brick. From the flute the brick side walls 26 have the compound inclination described in connection with walls 20 of Fig. 5 and hence wall portions 26 in Fig. 2 have their upper edges inwardly disposed with relation to their lower edges and also slope from the flute toward the corners, the innermost point being at the ute. In this manner marginal edge portions 2l are formed which are of wedge shape, this is, their lower portions are the thinnest and merge with the side wall of the brick and their upper portions are the thickest. Wall 26 is connected to portions 21 by triangular bevel walls 28. It will be noted, however, that both the marginal portions 21 of Fig. 5 and the marginal portions 2| of Fig. 2 are actually vertical and that the fact that they are wedge shaped arises from the sloping of the in-between portions and not from any alteration in the marginal portions themselves.

It will be noted that the bottom I5 of the brick (Fig. 3) is almost entirely cut away or recessed, leaving only a longitudinal marginal strip 29 along one side of the brick and two segmental portions 30 on the opposite corners of the brick. These three portions rest upon the top of a subjacent course of bricks and form between the two courses recesses which are adapted to receive a liquid binding or joining material. Attention is also called to the fact that the inverted funnellike recesses provide communication with the recess in the bottom of the brick. This is taken advantage of in laying and uniting the bricks as lwill be pointed out hereinafter.

From a consideration of the above description and Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, it will be understood that I have provided a parallelepipedal brick having three planar surfaces and three nonplanar surfaces and that the non-planar surfaces are so configured and related to one anl other that when a plurality of bricks are laid either upon a suitable foundation or upon a subjacent course the bricks can be secured to one another and to the foundation or subjacent course by pouring a liquid binding or joining material into the inverted funnel-like recesses. Such liquid'material ilows into the recess in the bottom of the brick and spreads along into the bottom recesses of contiguous bricks but the flow of such liquid material is laterally limited on one side by the longitudinal bottom marginal portion 29 and on the other side by the two segmental portions 30 thus preventing any undesirable spreading, flowing or wasting of the liquid material. 'Ihis liquid material is poured hot or in melted condition and` when it cools or hardens forms an effective joint securing the bricks to each other and to the foundation or subjacent course. Thus in utilizing the present brick in producing horizontal surfaces, such as floors, an entire course of brick may be laid and then the joints poured. Pouring is carried out via each funnel-like recess. Such a floor is illustrated in Fig. 6 especially and of course in such a floor the joints on the top course are exposed or visible unless covered by a layer of tile or other material which may or may not be resorted to, depending upon circumstances. The longitudinal joints are designated by numeral 3| and the transverse joints by numeral 32. I am thus able to produce an exceptionally strong and even brick floor in a simplified manner and in a much shorter period of time as compared to ordinary brick having six planar surfaces and wherein each brick must be set individually in a plastic mortar and each course leveled olf. In a floor made of my new brick a level floor is insured without any special precautions being taken provided the foundation is itself level. The exposed joint material is also minimized being only a fraction of that where regular rectangular bricks and plastic mortar are used.

Such liquid binding or joining material may be of any known or desired composition and I do not in this application claim per se novelty or invention in such composition, since a number of these are known in the art. The composition may, however, either be one which is normally liquid and which hardens or sets when in place or after a given period of time or it may be a material which is hard or solid at normal temperatures and which is liquid at raised tempera tures. Sulphur is one material that may be successfully used. In such case the material is poured hot and hardens upon cooling and in connection with the use of a liquid joining material it will be noted that there can be no waste of the same because the recesses are filled substantially full and hence the material is utilized more economically than plastic mortar or analogous materials which are w'asteful in that an excess must always be used and the excess removed. My present invention also provides neater joints having no projecting portions and thus has additional advantages over the use of plastic mortars.

Ceramic surfaces may be produced from brick made in accordance with the present invention which have no exposed or visible joints and this is particularly useful ln connection with walls or tanks as above outlined where corrosive conditions or agents exist which would attack ordinary mortar joints or any joints of an exposed nature or for ornamental purposes.

Such surfaces have also been indicated in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 and it will be observed from Fig. 8

- in particular that there are no visible or exposed v be understood by referring to the bricks marked Illa in Figs. 6 to 8 and, as shown, these bricks e may abut against a concrete or other wall or surface 33' depending upon the particular use. In Figs. 6 to 8, inclusive, the vertical wall with the invisible joints is made from brick of the same size as the ooring brick but in Fig. 9 a narrower slightly modied brick Ica' has been used having different proportions but otherwise being substantially the same as is indicated by the use of y the same numerals thereon with a prime designation.

Vertical walls or tanks may thus be formed which are permanent and proofed against deterioration, particularly where' corrosive atmospheres or agents are present,` but the use of the brick is not limited to such because I have discovered that subway tubes or vehicular tunnels can be advantageously so produced and in such cases where it is desired to make the built-up structure impervious to water the joints may be composed of tar, asphalt, or other bituminous compound, thus adequately preventing inltration of water or other liquid. Likewise, manholes and analogous vertically disposed tunnellike structures may also be produced in accordance with the foregoing with a 100 per cent ceramic surface and with'out visible joints.

My invention therefore comprises a parallelepipedal block or brick having one side, one end and its bottom especially configured so as to provide new and useful features and results. Such a brick not only makes it possible to more quickly and more simply produce'vbuilt-up structures which are vstronger and more durable as well as level but also the formation of certain types of built-up structures wherein no spacers or precast strips are required and wherein there are no visible or accessible joints, thus providing a structure extremely long in life and substantially entirely free vfrom any ordinary form of deterioration, particularly as to the joints thereof. The foregoing description and explanation are however intended as illustrative or exemplary rather than limitative and I may make certain additions, omissions, modications or substitutions within the scope and principle of the foregoing. The invention is rather to be dened by the appended claims, wherein the term brick is used in its broadest sense as covering bricks, blocks, tiles and similar articles forming units of building construction.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as newand desire to secure by Letters Patent is: y

1. A parallelepipedal brick having its bottom, one end and one side surface provided with communicating recesses, the recesses in the side and end surfaces including an intermediate flute and the brick surface adjacent the utes being disposed on a gradual inclination which slopes toward said flutes.

2. A parallelepipedal brick having its bottom', one end and one side surface recessed, the recesses in the end and side surfaces including an intermediate ute connected by inclined surfaces'which slope from the ends thereof toward the flute, each flute terminating in an enlarged semi-circular beveled recess formed partly in the respective side and end surfaces and partlyin the bottom surface and communicating with the recess in the bottom surface which is defined by a raised marginal projection along one side and spaced .segmental projections along the other side.

3. A parallelepipedal brick the bottom surface of which is provided with a longitudinal marginal projecting portion along one edge and spaced,

"raised sectors along the other edge, there being a semi-circular beveled recess between said spaced, raised sectors. i

4. A parallelepipedal brick the bottom surface of which is provided with a longitudinal projection along one side and spaced, raised segmental projections along the opposite side, the bottom surface aforesaid being provided with two beveled semi-circular recesses. one-of which is located between the segmental projections and the other of which is located between one of the segmental projections andthe end of the longitudinal projection.

5. A parallelepipedal brick, one side surface of which is provided with an inverted funnel-shaped recess and sloping side walls extending from a point near the ends of said side surface to said recess, the extreme ends of said side surface being provided with marginal wedge-shaped projectionsrwhich have a maximum height at the top of the brick and which merge into the side wall near the bottom of the brick.

6. A parallelepipedal ceramic brick, one side surface of which is provided with an inverted funnel-shaped recess, 'the side surface extending from such recess toward the ends thereof with a compound inclination, the termini of the side surface being constituted of vertical, marginal' wedge-shaped portions tapering from top to bottom.

'1. A parallelepipedal brick which has one end surface thereof provided witha centrally disposed flute, the bottom of the flute being connected to and merging with a substantially semicircular beveled recess formed partly in the end surface of the brick and partly in the bottom surface thereof, the end wall being inclined toward the ute and being also inclined from bottom to top from the ute toward the outer corners of the brick. the` extreme outer portions of the end wall surface being in the form of wedge-shaped projections which have their greatest thickness at the top of the brick 'and which merge into the wall surface adjacent the bottom thereof.

8. A parallelepipedal ceramic brick, one end surface of which is provided with an inverted funnel-shaped recess, the termini of the end 

